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I can't decide what is worse, idiot national talking heads or complete homer local columnists.
I can't decide what is worse, idiot national talking heads or complete homer local columnists.
Panthers will win it all
Defense will be Carolina's ticket to Super Bowl
SCOTT FOWLER
In their 12th year of existence, the Carolina Panthers will win their first Super Bowl.
That's my prediction, and I'm sticking to it. Despite the Panthers' lingering problems, I believe this will be Team Dream. This will be the squad you will tell your grandchildren about, the one whose highlight DVD you will plug in for nostalgia's sake in 2020, the one that finally puts it together and becomes world champions on Feb. 4, 2007, in Miami.
Why? Mostly because of the defense.
Because Carolina is so good there, the Panthers won't get blown out all season. Although the offense will provide some flashy desserts -- the kind that come to the table flaming hot and inspire oohs and aahs -- the defense will be Carolina's meat and potatoes.
Now don't get me wrong. Carolina isn't about to challenge the 1972 Miami Dolphins. With the difficult schedule the Panthers have, they will lose a number of games in the regular season -- I'm guessing they will end up 12-4 with the NFC South title. They will lose at least one they shouldn't.
But 12-4 will be good enough to get a first-round bye in the playoffs, and after that I think the Panthers will get on one of those January rolls. This time, it will end happily.
Trouble spots? There are several -- most notably the running game. If the team free-falls into another one of those 2004 embarrassments, that's where it will start. And if Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith or Julius Peppers -- Carolina's three most indispensable players -- suffers a season-ending injury, things will get very dicey.
But the defense will erase a lot of errors, sort of like Patrick Ewing used to do for those Georgetown teams of the early 1980s. I love the acquisition of Maake Kemoeatu in particular; he's a great force in the middle and less prone to injury than Kris Jenkins. I think Thomas Davis will have a better season in Year 2 and Chris Gamble and Ken Lucas will just keep getting better.
Now, the caveat. My predictions for the Panthers' past few seasons haven't exactly been stellar. Over the long term -- in the seven years I've been making an official prediction in this space -- I've missed the Carolina's regular-season record by an average of 2.9 games per year. Tom Sorensen has missed them by an average of 3.4 per year (in his 11 years of official Panthers predictions).
However, Tom has been more accurate than me the past couple of seasons. He's like the short-term stock that zooms up, fools you into investing more money and then plummets. I'm the long-term blue-chipper. Don't let Sorensen's column on this page make you believe otherwise. He's pushing 60, after all, and more concerned these days with wrestling Father Time at the local YMCA than actually studying the Panthers.
Trust me on this pick. I'm no "homer" -- I've never picked the Panthers to win the Super Bowl before.
But this season feels different. The Panthers are deeper, better-coached and more talented than they've ever been.
This time, they will go all the way.
Defense will be Carolina's ticket to Super Bowl
SCOTT FOWLER
In their 12th year of existence, the Carolina Panthers will win their first Super Bowl.
That's my prediction, and I'm sticking to it. Despite the Panthers' lingering problems, I believe this will be Team Dream. This will be the squad you will tell your grandchildren about, the one whose highlight DVD you will plug in for nostalgia's sake in 2020, the one that finally puts it together and becomes world champions on Feb. 4, 2007, in Miami.
Why? Mostly because of the defense.
Because Carolina is so good there, the Panthers won't get blown out all season. Although the offense will provide some flashy desserts -- the kind that come to the table flaming hot and inspire oohs and aahs -- the defense will be Carolina's meat and potatoes.
Now don't get me wrong. Carolina isn't about to challenge the 1972 Miami Dolphins. With the difficult schedule the Panthers have, they will lose a number of games in the regular season -- I'm guessing they will end up 12-4 with the NFC South title. They will lose at least one they shouldn't.
But 12-4 will be good enough to get a first-round bye in the playoffs, and after that I think the Panthers will get on one of those January rolls. This time, it will end happily.
Trouble spots? There are several -- most notably the running game. If the team free-falls into another one of those 2004 embarrassments, that's where it will start. And if Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith or Julius Peppers -- Carolina's three most indispensable players -- suffers a season-ending injury, things will get very dicey.
But the defense will erase a lot of errors, sort of like Patrick Ewing used to do for those Georgetown teams of the early 1980s. I love the acquisition of Maake Kemoeatu in particular; he's a great force in the middle and less prone to injury than Kris Jenkins. I think Thomas Davis will have a better season in Year 2 and Chris Gamble and Ken Lucas will just keep getting better.
Now, the caveat. My predictions for the Panthers' past few seasons haven't exactly been stellar. Over the long term -- in the seven years I've been making an official prediction in this space -- I've missed the Carolina's regular-season record by an average of 2.9 games per year. Tom Sorensen has missed them by an average of 3.4 per year (in his 11 years of official Panthers predictions).
However, Tom has been more accurate than me the past couple of seasons. He's like the short-term stock that zooms up, fools you into investing more money and then plummets. I'm the long-term blue-chipper. Don't let Sorensen's column on this page make you believe otherwise. He's pushing 60, after all, and more concerned these days with wrestling Father Time at the local YMCA than actually studying the Panthers.
Trust me on this pick. I'm no "homer" -- I've never picked the Panthers to win the Super Bowl before.
But this season feels different. The Panthers are deeper, better-coached and more talented than they've ever been.
This time, they will go all the way.
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